Playing with Time
by CrazyAna
Summary: Harry and Hermione get thrown into the yesteryears... Years, where the Marauders walked the Halls of Hogwarts and Voldemort wrecked havoc outside of it. Series of one-shots - Hermione paired with miscellaneous yesteryear heroes! (Chapter 01 remains common. Every chapter thereafter to be read as a separate one-shot).
1. Chapter 1

**Playing with Time**

**Episode I: The Common Chapter across the one-shots!**

**The Whys and Hows of it all…**

Death….

That's all they saw around them.

So many… _dead_. Small school children… New couples… Promising youth… All gone. Whisked away by death.

The very air they breathed had its sickly sweet stench.

"I can't watch this anymore," Harry said, looking pointedly away from where the Weasley family sat huddled together around a lifeless body of the ever-smiling Fredrick Weasley.

"Harry…" Hermione touched his shoulder in a silent gesture of support.

"Hermione… I…" Harry halted. _What was it that I wanted? 'To get away, at least for some time,'_ came a quick response. "Hermione I'm going to the Headmaster's office." He said, though he didn't know why. What was he intending to do there anyway? Dumbledore had passed away the previous year and after learning about everything Snape had been doing from the side-lines for him, Harry was only raked with guilt when he thought of his old Potions teacher. But maybe that was it…

"Hermione, I'm going to the Headmaster's office," he repeated with a little more conviction. "There's a portrait of every headmaster in there. Maybe I can… I don't know but I need to speak with someone… Hopefully Dumbledore, maybe even… even Snape… to apologize…" he mumbled the last bit with his head hung low.

Hermione bit in her lower lip to keep from crying more. With a last look at the Weasley family, she turned to Harry, "I'll come with you."

With a small smile and nod, Harry offered her his hand and together they walked towards the large gargoyles that guarded the Headmaster's office.

After several random tries at passwords, Harry was suddenly hit with inspiration. "Lily," he whispered and sure enough, the stone gargoyles turned and up stepped the duo, onto the first step, waiting to be carried till the top.

Without a knock, the pair entered the large office and both gasped. The last headmaster hadn't changed a thing in the office, it was exactly how Dumbledore had kept his, not a chair or vial out of place. Why, even Fawkes' iron perch was right where Harry had last seen it on the fateful night Dumbledore had been killed.

"It feels like he didn't even want to be here," Harry spoke sadly as he trudged around the deserted room.

"Maybe he honestly didn't," Hermione agreed softly, knowing immediately whom Harry was referring to.

And just like that Harry began to talk, random things really, about how he had always distrusted Snape, and how Snape had earned every bit of cheek Harry had thrown in his face over the years. How he had always admired Fred and George, their smarts, their zest and most importantly, their sheer perseverance in face all that defied them. How he had always envied Ron his family, wanting one for himself, making him fancy Ginny just so he could be a true and indispensable part of the large yet loving brood.

Most of the things he spoke of Hermione already knew of course, but heard him all out, quietly, letting him speak, knowing he needed to do it all. And slowly, neither knowing how, they began shuffling through the things all around the office. Some were just plain odd, some old and some downright frightening, but all interesting.

Especially one particular hourglass that was boldly defying the laws of gravity.

"You know, even Slughorn has one of these," Harry commented, picking up the hourglass off its shelf and showing it to Hermione. "It indicates the quality of the conversation, instead of showing the actual time that's elapsing," he sighed.

"Really?" Hermione turned her attention towards the hourglass interestedly. But as luck would have, the grime on her, the soot that covered them both, the sheer fatigue that had set in bone deep, something went amiss as Harry went on to pass the hourglass to Hermione and it slipped and fell, making a tinkling impact with the floor, the glass shattering into a hundred glittering pieces.

"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry," Hermione said, just as Harry made his apologises for his tardiness. They both chuckled, bending down at the same time to pick up the debris around. But just as their hands touched the pale, white sand, it began glowing, some of it sticking onto their skin while some flew in a circle around them. The wind sweeping the sand around, quickly picking up pace.

"What's happening?" Harry asked, out of instinct making a grab for Hermione's hand.

"I don't know," Hermione screamed her answer to be heard over the howling of the wind.

And just as suddenly, everything stopped, the office appearing into view just the way it was before the hourglass broke. Confusedly, they both turned their heads towards their feet, and yet more perplexing was the distinct lack of shards of glass or the sand in the aftermath of the mini-storm they'd endured in the past minute.

A light shuffling and a quick in-take of breath drew their attention and like naughty children caught after curfew, Harry and Hermione stared wide-eyed at their Head of the House.

"Oh, Professor, we're so sorry…" the young duo began.

"Goodness gracious!" the professor exclaimed. "Who.. What..?" then she took a calming breath, while the youngsters gawked to see their normally poised professor flustered. "How did you get in?" The professor, with a better control over her emotions, began again. "What are you doing, snooping here in the headmaster's office? And most importantly, who are you?"

And it was the last question that got her the complete, undivided attention of the duo.

"What do you mean, who are we? I'm Harry Potter and that's Hermione Granger. We're your students for the past…" Harry began but McGonagall cut him.

"I think I'd remember my own students, Mr. Harry," she said sternly, in just the way Professor McGonagall could.

"I think we'd best let them talk first, Minerva," said an amused voice from just beyond the Professor.

"D- Dum- Dumbledore..?" Hermione stuttered in shock while Harry watched the jewel-coloured robed Headmaster smile and walk towards them. _His very dead headmaster smile and walk towards them…_

…o0oo0oo0oo0oo0o…

"So, you're saying an _hourglass_ got you here?" McGonagall asked her future students sceptically. "Why you?"

Despite their new predicament, the duo snickered, "Trust me Professor, you'll be asking that question to us far more times than we'd care to count."

"This hourglass…" Dumbledore cut in. "Would it be something like this?" he asked, silently summoning the exact same hourglass Harry and Hermione had been marvelling over before they were brought where they were.

"Yes!" the two exclaimed together.

"Ah, I see," Dumbledore said, considering the said hourglass intently.

"So you have it Albus. Can we just use it to send them back from where they came from?" McGonagall asked cautiously. While she was all gaga about anything magical, especially sports, but playing with time was something she just drew the line at. One could never say what would come off it. Time travelling was un-lawful at best and downright sinister at the worst of times, and so as a principle, she made sure to not promote it.

"No, we can't," Dumbledore shook his head, still staring at the hourglass before looking up at his co-worker. "It's one of my own inventions, actually. Something I wistfully designed in the my younger days to turn back time and correct a few of my graver mistakes. It's a long and extremely taxing process, and I only ever made enough to go back a couple of decades, for one reason or another, I never did succeed in making more." He sighed wistfully. "But, that's that. It's a lost artifice and its sole purpose was turning time back, not ahead. You know as well as I, Minerva, how tricky time turning is, forward much more so than backwards I dare say."

"But, can we do anything at all to help these kids get back?" McGonagall asked then, her worry for her students, whether they be current, past or this time even future students, winning over everything else.

"I'm afraid we can't. The sand, it only turns time one way - backwards," Dumbledore gravely shook his head but turned next to his future students. "But help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who seek it. Tell me, are you two done with your education?"

…o0oo0oo0oo0oo0o…

And that was how Harry and Hermione found themselves looking at the large group of the assembled students in the Great Hall that looked just the same as they remembered back in their school days, as opposed to how they had left it a few hours back.

Just so much had happened since….

They had been asked to stay under the protection of Hogwarts and re-start their studies, and been instructed quite sternly by one Professor McGonagall to take their studies here seriously. Since the term was almost ending, seeing as they had transported themselves back in time by almost two decades yet had arrived there on the exact same date, so, they were to re-do the fag-end of their sixth year for now, for once take their exams and then move on to their missed seventh year with the next start of term that was a few months away.

"May I have your attention students?" Dumbledore clinked his goblet and drew on the attention of the of all the students.

"We have here two new transfer students who will be joining in with all you sixth years tomorrow onwards. I'd like to believe that you all will welcome them warmly in your midst and make sure they feel at home at Hogwarts. This is Miss Hermione Granger and this is Mr. Harry Potterer," Dumbledore announced.

While they'd decided to stick with Hermione's original name, given that she was muggle-born and no one would've really heard of her family anyway, they had thought for long and hard about Harry's name, it had to be something he would quickly acquiesce to, even when distracted, so it had to be closer to his own name, while it had to explain his uncanny resemblance to one of the students who was in the same year as them, as Harry had much happily found out from his two Professors just that afternoon. And so they'd settled on Potterer, a name gained from the first and famous Linfred Potterer who was believed to be not just the originator of many magical medicinal potions, earning him the beginnings of the Potter fortunes, but also the first and foremost Potter. It was his nickname, Potterer, given to him by the muggles he lived around, that had gone on to get contaminated and was later turned to the modern day Potter, over the generations. (information gleaned from Pottermore)

And so the sorting began. "Once a Gryffindor, always a Gryffindor," Hermione chanted like a mantra in her mind, as the old battered hat was placed and her head and with a large smirk, the hat roared, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Just as the loud applause from the table that sported children with red and gold ties died down, Harry took the now vacant chair and "GRYFFINDOR!" the hat roared once again.

Hand-in-hand, the two made their way towards their table. Harry faltered in his steps, his eyes misting over as he saw a red-headed witch smiling her welcome at them and his chuckle was just a bit watery when suddenly a boy with a messy raven mop, just like his, tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention back to him, making her snap angrily. She turned to her plate with a scowl while the boy couldn't keep his infectious smile away. Harry stood there rooted to the spot, staring at the young couple.

"Harry," Hermione squeezed his hand hard, and with a tilt in her head had him walking towards two empty places slightly further down the table. All through dinner though, Harry's eyes rarely left the two bickering teenagers.

…o0oo0oo0oo0oo0o…

Harry was all over the place with sheer joy at the almighty dip his life had suddenly taken. "Hermione!" he exclaimed first thing in the morning, as soon as he saw her waiting in the common room for him. he ran towards her, wrapping his arms around her waist as he lifted her clear off her feet and turned them round and round for a few times before setting her down again.

Hermione simply being thankful that one, he hadn't dropped her, two, there was no one in the common room to see Harry's antics and three, he looked just so exuberantly happy.

"What happened?" she asked, righting herself by leaning heavily on Harry.

"I just spent the entire night with the marauders! Dad, Sirius and Lupin… all of them.. Hermione they are all just so like I had imagined them!"

"I'm glad to see you so happy, Harry," Hermione smiled. "If we had to get stuck up in time, I'm glad we got this one."

Harry nodded, his smile as infectious as his father's, making Hermione smile with him. "Me too, Mione. I'm finally getting a chance to spend some real quality time with… them all. And honestly, I've never been happier, even if it means that I have to bear a healthy dosage of that rat for every second I spend with the others."

Hermione nodded. She'd wondered about it herself while looking at Peter Pettigrew the previous night. He'd looked so miniscule, so _harmless_ that it was difficult to believe that he'd been the one to almost single-handedly destroy Harry's life.

"So, what…"

"Ah, there you are newbies," James came trudging followed by a sauntering Sirius, a sleepy Peter and a watchful Remus.

"Can you be a little more respectful," came an annoyed voice from the opposite stairs, and very irate looking Lily descended the stairs, followed by her own set of friends-cum-roommates, Kia and Aurora.

Hermione smiled at her roommates in greeting while James muttered something under his breath and did a complete flip from his teasing, telling Lily how beautiful she looked that morning.

Rolling her eyes, Lily invited the duo in the common room to join them for breakfast, and somehow, as a large gang of nine, the group made their way to the Great Hall to start their day.

"Oh, this is turning out to be such a promising day already," Harry grinned from ear-to-ear walking in the middle of the large group, so as to not miss a thing of their on-goings.

Hermione shook her head, though lovingly, and walked out with him.

Unbeknownst to her though, a pair of grey eyes were watching her carefully, weighing and categorising everything about her.

…o0oo0oo0oo0oo0o…

"So, I was thinking…"

"No, Harry. We can't."

"At least hear me out…"

"I know what you're going to say. And the answer is NO!"

Silence met Hermione's statement, so she tried to reason out with her best friend.

"Harry we'll end up changing all of the future if we interfere with this time."

"And what exactly was it about our time that you didn't want changed, Hermione? Me being an orphan, you being ill-named for your blood status or all those times we, as children mind you, fought the adult's war and lost our childhoods to it?" Harry snapped and stomped off in a flurry of robes, away from the library, away from her…

_That_ had been two weeks back, about three days into their arrival in this time. Not that Hermione hadn't been expecting it. The second she'd found out that she was here during the 'marauder era' she knew this was a row she was going to have with Harry, sooner rather than later.

And he'd just proved her right.

All through the past fortnight, Hermione had only thought of what Harry had said. Even now, as she sat in common room, a plethora of books askew in front of her, she studied Harry.

He was sitting on the couch near the fireplace, with James on one side and Sirius on the other. All three putting in their heads together in the game of wizarding chess they were playing against Remus.

_This is what he has always wanted,_ she realized, _what he had always craved for and yet been denied over and over again._ But now that they were here, by some sheer dumb luck, should they really be wasting the opportunity offered?

She looked at the three boys around Harry. James, Sirius, Remus, none of them had deserved to die. Not so young, at the very least.

And here they were, Harry and Hermione, in their era, with them in school, with knowledge of the future and the correct information to actually make a difference. So, should they just sit back then…? _Could they just sit back then?_

Hermione lost herself to her thoughts, wondering if 'coincidence' was really a word she wanted to use here or turn this incident into an opportunity, as a chance offered to them by fates, call it her new destiny and use it for the best of her abilities.

While Hermione sat there thinking things through, Sirius nudged Harry's side with his elbow. "Granger's staring at you, mate."

Harry's heart skipped a beat. They hadn't spoken for two weeks! _Could this be it? Will she finally see things my way, understand my reasons?_ But when he looked up, his heart crashed again.

He scowled, "She is not looking at me, merely thinking. I happen to be sitting in the same direction she is looking at while lost to her over-driven mind."

"So, why have you two not been all chummy like the first week you were here?" Remus asked, right after he instructed his rook to move a few steps ahead.

"Lover's spat?" queried James.

"Nah, we are not lovers, nor are ever likely to be," Harry shook his head, hoping the group around him would bite the bait and not ask for the reason behind the obvious spat between the friends.

They did. _Almost_.

"You're not?" Sirius asked, rounding out to stare at Harry.

"But.. I was so sure you were dating," James eyed the two new kids in confusion.

"If you two were never dating and hence aren't broken up, why the fight?" Remus, once again, nailed the hook right on the head.

"Do you think I have a shot with her?" That was Peter.

The three other marauders along with Harry turned to Peter at that question and bitingly, in unison, replied with a resounding NO.

Harry wisely chose to ignore Remus' question, but answered James'. "We're not. Never were. Never will be. What we have is so much more than all of that. There was a time when everyone was against me, I only had Hermione, and she made sure I sailed through it all. Through all my tantrums, my grief, my highs and my lows, she was there, silently doing what is best for me, literally saving my arse a hundred times over. I love her, I always will, but I don't think either of us wants to complicate that love and lose the other over the bitter feelings that are bound to arise if things don't work out. It's just too big a risk. We're much better as we are. She's my best friend, my wingman, my conscience, my teacher, my… my mother. For the longest time, she's been all the family I've had…" Harry trailed off, his gaze clashing with Hermione's as her far-away look faded and her eyes searched his.

"Shit! What was I thinking!" Harry groaned, immediately getting off the couch and walking towards Hermione, just as she got off her armchair and ran towards him.

Within a few seconds, he was swamped by her frangipani fragrance, her riotous curls blocking his view of all else as she squeezed most of his breath out with the bone crushing hug she gave him. He didn't complain. He'd never have Hermione hugging him any other way, anyway.

So, he squeezed her right back.

"I'm so sorry," they both spoke together and then chuckled.

"You were right we shouldn't be messing around here…"

"You were right we need to do something about this…"

"What! What are you saying?"

"Wait! What are you saying?"

"I was saying you were right, like always might I add," Harry said, rubbing his nape sheepishly.

"I don't believe in coincidences, Harry. I _know_ we were brought here, _right here_, for a reason. You were right. We can't and we shouldn't just stand back and let things happen. We have a chance to make a difference," she looked around at the common room, not particularly caring that most were staring at them, "we can help and so _we must_."

"You're ready to do this? For real?"

Hermione gave him a big smile and nodded.

"Are you serious?" Harry asked, his shock at the new turn of events making his voice go all high and loud, still not quite believing Hermione was ready to change the past with him.

A naughty glint entered Hermione's eyes as she shook her head. "No, I'm not. He is Sirius, remember?" Hermione pointed at Sirius who stood laughing behind with his friends on her joke as she winked at Harry.

"That I am," seconded Sirius, as Harry pulled Hermione into one more bear hug and then tucked her into his side and dragged her along to their table.

...

NOTE: Do let me know if there's anyone in particular you'd like to see featured in this Time Series.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Tides of Time**

On hindsight, Hermione wondered just how she could have avoided any of it?

Falling through the weaves of the timeline, changing their futures, was all good and done. But this? What control did any woman or witch have on this?

Hermione stared at the arm that was strongly holding her prisoner within a hair's breadth of the hard, muscled body of the man of her guilty dreams.

Remus with all the baggage he had carried when she'd seen him in her other life, was still everything her dreams were made of; but this Remus... the one who had a good life with his friends and family intact, this Remus with his sparkling green eyes and mischievous half-smile, the goody two shoes of the marauding quartet but a marauder himself nonetheless, this Remus was simply irresistible.

Hermione lightly traced his high cheekbones, moving on to his strong jaw, slowly down his chiselled nose towards those sinful lips that hadn't left a single inch of her skin un-kissed the night before.

She blushed thinking of their night together. Never had she known that _that _could have been anything _like_ _that_..

She didn't know how the two had ended up with each other after Voldemort's body was incedioed in public view. Harry and Hermione hadn't told anyone they were time travellers but they'd carefully shared their intelligence with the Order, with Professor Dumbledore's help, of course, and together they had all brought the Dark Wizard down for good.

The revellers after that had been everywhere!

She didn't know who had bent in first when Remus had tried wiping the butterbeer moustache off of her lips with his thumb, but she remembered the feel of his tongue as he had licked her mouth clean, right there at their not very private table.

She didn't know whose hands had run up the other's body first, but she remembered creaming herself at the tantalising glimpses of his chest she had received when she'd ripped the top few buttons of the offending piece of clothing he was wearing, and all of that at the bar no less!

She hadn't even realised when the two had left the The Leaky's bar, in what state of dress or undress had they been as they climbed up the stairs towards the rooms Tom rented on nightly basis. Did she have her shoes in hooked in her fingers as Remus had held her to his chest, the two kissing and fumbling all through the way up? _Felt like it..._

But she'd definitely been blown away by the thorough love making, she remembered _that_ all too clearly. Who knew the kind man was such a passionate wolf in bed. Hermione moaned in pleasure as her inner thighs still quivered in memory. He'd marked all the important bits of hers, claiming them for himself, he'd said in that husky-heavy seductive voice of his. But he'd definitely showered that one particular part of hers with the most attention.

_Kissing, nibbling, biting, rutting, loving... _far beyond the break of dawn. Why? Even now she could barely rub her thighs together without wincing...

Hermione had crushed on him when he was her Professor, his mind had seduced her even back then, but then he'd gone ahead and married someone else and she'd known she'd never be enough for someone as smart and handsome as him.

"Oh my God! What have I done?" Hermione couldn't help the short scream that escaped her lips. _Tonks was her friend! And Teddy... oh sweet Teddy.. _She couldn't.. _wouldn't _be so selfish.

_..._

The loud voice wondering what she'd done had Remus groggily opening his eyes, the sleepy sea greens creasing slowly to see the scared brown ones.

"What have I done?" Hermione repeated herself when Remus' eyes sought hers out. Without giving him a chance to speak she jumped out of the bed, clumsily wrapping the sheet around her, trying her best to cover her nudity from those sinful green eyes that were devouring her even in their half-awake state.

He was left staring at the glaring holes in her cover while she ducked into the bathroom. He was almost at door to check on her when he heard the tell-tale crack of apparition from the other side of it.

"She's gone?" Remus could barely believe his ears. He alahomara-ed the lock open and stared in a state of shock at the empty restroom, still unable to believe it all.

They'd danced around each other for years! And it had taken Voldemort's bloody downfall to get them together. He had thought that was it - he finally had her exactly where he had wanted her since their eyes had met that first time she'd walked up to the Gryffindor table, Harry in tow.

He had thought that last night was their beginning. He had thought that _she was finally his!_

Her touch had burned him, consuming him so completely that he hadn't known where he ended and she began. The way she had fallen apart for him, lying under him, bouncing over him... he had lost all thought... of both the wizard and the wolf.

And oh just how she had taken him in, all of him, so willingly... so welcomingly... her hot mouth... her moist heat... her puckered tightness... he'd felt like he was finally coming home. _In her arms..._

Like a thirst-driven man left adrift for too long finding his oasis, overwhelmed and awed, he had fucked her every which way he could think of and then again in every which way his wolf had howled for. The years of their barely suppressed sexual tension had finally consumed them both entirely, leaving nothing but just a man and a woman and the basest of their urges to be one with the other. To hold on and to never leave one another…

And she'd been there with him all through the way! Moaning throatily, screaming his name with abandonment of all else, accepting all of him so completely, encouraging him further. He was sure he had fingerprints on his arse to prove just how much she wanted him all inside of her through their long shared night.

He'd been so sure that she was it. His mate. His other half. For no one else could have survived his undivided attentions for all of those lengthy hours...

_Fuck!_ He could still smell their night's passion in the heavy air of the room. He could still taste her cum on his tongue. And the rumpled sheets of the bed were driving him crazy for more of it all.

All of them just begged the one question - _Why had she run away like that?_

...

"Maybe it's just me, you know guys.." Remus finally acknowledged, his heart breaking into pieces. "She is a very intelligent witch with a very bright future ahead of her. Maybe she just doesn't want someone like me holding her back."

He hated saying that out loud, but that was the only explanation he could come up with. No witch who could possibly go on to be the first lady Minister of Magic would want a werewolf for her husband, as passionate as their coupling might be.

And much to his shame he knew that she knew exactly who.. rather what he was. All of the Order's core members knew, much to his embarrassment.

"If she thinks that way then she is far more foolish than any wise witch ought to be," Sirius said with his eyes flashing in his true-to-name Black anger.

"Relax, brother," Regulus patted his brother's shoulder, shrugging when he caught James' eyes.

"I think I know why she might have done that.." Harry finally spoke up. All this talk of Hermione's sex life, with Remus no less, was making him dry heave but he knew he had to help. He'd seen Hermione living like a shell of herself since the past few days and for the love of all that was holy he just could not go back to watching her wilt away like that ever again whether for a dark wizard or a man.

"Look, I understand whatever I'm saying may sound impossible to you right now, but this is the biggest truth of our lives - Hermione's and mine."

Harry breathed in deeply and then spoke unflinchingly for the next three hours at a stretch.

"My name is Harry Potter, Harry _James_ Potter and I was born to Lily Evans and James Potter on the 31st of July in 1980.."

Everyone heard the tales of the young boy and his friends with morbid fascination.

...

Remus was simply trying to make sense of it all when he looked up from the cold cup of tepid tea that was cooling further in front of him, he realised, so was everyone else.

He didn't know what to do anymore. The wolf howling inside of him though, knew exactly where he ought to be.

...

It was too early in the morning for social calls, so Hermione grabbed her wand before she went to answer the floo she had locked the previous night.

"Remus..." her eyes widened in shock. She could have sworn they were both avoiding each other with a zeal. _What had changed?_

"You've been avoiding me." It was a clear statement not a question.

Hermione did not have any answer.

"Very well, then. I want you to think of something for the next three days." Remus never broke eye contact with the witch. It was the only way he knew he could get through to her.

"Harry in this time is Harriet Potter-Black, James and Regulus' adopted daughter," he spoke in a tone that willed her to understand what he was trying to say with both his words, spoken and unspoken. "Peter isn't the cheat you knew. Lily is funnily enough with Sirius while Snape is mad about Dorcas Meadowes."

Hermione's eyes widened in shock. _How did he know? Was he really hinting at what she thought he was or was it just her guilt playing tricks on her?_

Remus continued, ignoring her shocked posture. "Did you know magic is sentient in the sense that it seeks out a kindred spirit in another and only then can the partners have long, happy lives together? Unlike James, Lily and Regulus, even Dorcas for that matter, who all died in their youth in your other life? I believe Snape only lived as long as he did to fulfil his purpose in protecting his best friend's son; the moment that purpose was fulfilled, he too died. Sirius too, for that matter. Weren't I and Sirius' baby cousin young casualties of the war too? A year or so into our marriage, wasn't it? Much like James and Lily's many would say, hmm?"

Hermione blinked owlishly in reply.

"Take the next three days to ponder on that, will you?" Remus said, making a move to step back into the fireplace.

"What..." he stopped when she finally broke the silence. "What then? After the third day?"

Remus smirked like the Big Bad Wolf who finally had Little Red in his line of fire. "It's the full moon. I was able to talk myself out of this, but I know Moony will not rest until he has you back where you belong. In. Our. Arms." Remus' look was so heavily loaded, Hermione's eyes fell of their own accord.

"Take the next three days, Hermione. But I will come for you on the fourth day, early in the morning just like this. Make no mistakes. _You belong with me. _And Moony and I will make you ours before I turn that night. That's a marauder promise."

Hermione watched in stunned silence as the werewolf flooed himself out. Her entire being quivered at the promise he'd made to her as a parting shot. _You belong with me._ Her intimate muscles spasmed in just the thought._ That's a marauder promise._

_Moony and I will make you ours_ he'd said, and she just couldn't wait to find out how...


	3. Chapter 3

**Bidding His Time**

Twelve years…

Twelve long years where he'd lived like a hermit, not speaking to his friends, not ever going out. Only surviving, never really living.

His life was plunged in darkness so deep, he might as well have been in Azkaban.

He was broken, his life a shroud of cold and melancholy.

He only really lived in his head, where the memories from his past played on a never ending loop. Where he could see her, hear her, and if he really concentrated hard-enough, then smell her.

Scenes from his past flashed in his mind, whether his eyes were open or closed…

….

A laughing boy and a nervous girl…

Receding pain tempered with hints of mischief in green eyes, courage and wisdom shining in pair of brown ones.

It felt like just yesterday that the two new kids were mingling with the marauders…

Sirius closed his eyes and let his mind drift to the time gone by, where laughter was an every minute occurrence not the echo of a lost world.

…

_The two new students crashed on the couch in the Gryffindor common room. "I can't believe Fred and George actually mastered that back in their fifth year! And to think the grief I gave them for it!"_

_"Well, at least you're seeing them for the excellent prodigies that they truly are," Harry cheekily grinned at his friend. "I hope you don't give them too much grief the next time you see them."_

_"Right, of course," Hermione rolled her eyes._

_"You guys are officially my idols!" James exclaimed. "The entire row of Slytherins transfigured into canaries! That was hilarious!"_

_"Not our trick," Hermione replied modestly._

_"Yeah, we just happen to be friends with the best pranksters of the century," Harry winked._

_"Best Pranksters of the Century?" James was aghast. "Hear that, Pads? Seems we have some pretty large shoes to fill."_

_"Looks like we do, Prongs! Let's show these two what we're really made of," Sirius stepped up to the challenge._

_"OH! Now look what you've unleashed!" Remus groaned, though his subtle move towards his friends showing his unwavering support did not go amiss by anyone._

_…_

_"Regulus has really gone and done it this time! The slimy git tried to injure Prongs! That evil spawn of my demonic parents!" Sirius was spitting rage._

_"Don't," Hermione laid a cool hand on his warm one, "Don't judge him so harshly, Sirius. He is your brother."_

_"That prat is no brother of mine. He is all darkness that Blacks are infamous for." Sirius was still angry but Hermione's light touch had definitely reigned in his more acerbic tenacity._

_"We've all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we choose to act on, that's who we really are at the end," Hermione whispered soothingly, her eyes held a grim sadness that made her words an echo of a time bygone._

_"That's beautiful," Sirius whispered back in the same soft tones, "Who said that?"_

_You once did, Hermione thought but didn't say, she later told him. "A wizard I once knew," she told him instead._

_"Sounds like a wise guy."_

_"He was. Well, at least most of the times," Hermione's smile was reminiscent._

_"I'll always remember that," Sirius said, to bring her attention back on him and wipe that lack-lustre look from her eyes._

_"You do that. May be even share with all those in need to hear it," Hermione mischievously added._

_"I will. May be we can start a loop," Sirius grinned, in complete contrast to his mood from minutes ago._

_"A loop of wisdom. That's a smashing idea. What goes around will…." And she stopped mid-sentence and then shrieked. "Oh my God! That is it, Sirius! It's a loop! What goes around will come around! I could kiss you!"_

_"Please do!" Sirius interjected._

_Laughing, Hermione held his face between both her hands and pecked his nose, still grinning. "It's a loop!"_

_"What is a loop?" Sirius asked, dejected to have her kiss planted on his nose instead of his lips as he pouted while she almost danced on the spot._

_"Time!"_

_"What?" Now he was very confused._

_"It's a loop, Sirius. What goes around will come around. Now I only need to find a way to break it!" and he could see he was losing her to her thoughts._

_Argh! Not again! Stay with me! His heart hammered a quick tattoo._

_"Tell Harry I'll see him later," she kissed him loudly on his cheek and was gone in flurry of curls and robes._

He hadn't known then how hard the loop of time was going to get around him.

_…_

_"Are you sure about it Moony?" James asked his werewolf friend._

_"Yeah, Harry said so himself. That's why we couldn't find them on the train ride back at the end of the year, last time. They have nowhere to be so they simply stay back at Hogwarts."_

_"Oh!"_

_James looked struck so Sirius moved towards him. "You alright there, Prongs?"_

_"What?" James leaned on his best friend. "Yeah, yeah I am. It's just… I don't know Pads, there's something about those two that makes me very… protective. I… I don't know… I feel responsible for them, as if keeping them safe, happy, is all my job. There are times that I've felt my magic actually caress Harry's, you know. When he made the Quidditch Team, when he bested Snape in the duel, when he successfully pulls off pranks… my magic expands to engulf him and I think he knows, because he always looks at me… right at me and flashes this smile that I just know would….. Ok, why are you three staring at me like that?"_

_The three other marauders shook their head, their bodies shaking with barely controlled laughter. "You sure you're still into Lily? Or should we be asking Harry to move to a new dorm?"_

_"Morons," James swore and threw his pillow at his friends._

_"I know what you meant, you know," Sirius whispered to James late that same night. At James' confused look, he offered him a soft smile. "I know what you meant when you spoke of Harry and Hermione in the morning today. I feel a bond between him and me too, makes him feel like family to me, almost as close as you. Not quite like you, but pretty close."_

_"You think we should have them over for Christmas at the Manor?"_

_"If you think Mumma P and Father wouldn't mind, sure."_

_"I'll write to them in the morning…"_

_…_

_"I can't believe you actually tricked the girl into a date with you!" Moony shook his head, looking at Sirius through the mirror Sirius was using to set his hair just right._

_"I can't believe you actually had to trick a girl to get her to accept a date with you!" Wormtail grinned. "How the mighty have fallen!"_

_"Think it would work with Lily, too?" Prongs asked pouting._

_"You could try, Prongs. If nothing else, at least you'll get your weekly dose of her hex over with," Padfoot rolled his eyes, making others chuckle at their dear friend's constant strike outs with his Lily-flower._

_"I never really paid attention to the stipulations of the wager. What were they again?" Moony asked, a small frown on his face showing he was trying to jog his memory to no avail._

_"If I win, she treats me to a butterbeer at Three Broomsticks. If she wins, I take her to that little bookstore at the end of the street at Hogsmeade and treat her to any book of her choice. I had made up my mind to follow it with big bout of thirst that would only quench with a warm butterbeer after her browsing, should she win," Sirius winked at his friends through his reflection._

_"So one way or another, this weekend your Hogsmeade trip was bound to be with Hermione," Moony chuckled._

_"Yes! I am past the point of subtlety! I have never worked so hard for any girl as much as this one has had me work!" Pads was exasperated._

_"In all honesty though, I don't think she views this as a date," Moony deadpanned._

_"Why'd you say that?" Sirius pouted adorably._

_"Because… I just think she doesn't," Moony shrugged his shoulders. "Care to make a wager?"_

_"She invited us all to tag along. Her treat she said," Wormtail interjected listlessly._

_Sirius scowled while his best friends laughed at his expense. "Looks like we'll see you in a bit, Pads."_

_"Some friends," Sirius muttered acidly under his breath._

_…_

_"I don't think I can do this anymore," Sirius groaned, holding his head in his hands while James patted his back. They both currently had an excellent view of Hermione pattering about the Potter's kitchen with James' mother, both preparing for the Christmas feast to be held in the evening._

_Just a few minutes back, Hermione had asked Harry to join them, promising that his culinary skills far surpassed her own, and so Sirius could speak openly with his best friend._

_"Living under the same roof with her, seeing her like this, so happy and relaxed and… and without any fucking footwear! It does something to my heart…" he groaned again. "Why is she not wearing any footwear?"_

_"Didn't know you had such a foot fetish Padfoot," James mischievously winked at his friend, "I'll remember to keep my socks on in the dorms from now on."_

_Sirius promptly slapped his best friend slash blood brother up his head._

_…_

_"You know, she thinks you're too childish. If only you act a little bit mature and maybe quit calling her best friend names, Lily might come around," Hermione patted James on his back as the two sat on the steps off the door that led towards a small garden around the Potter Manor._

_"I don't know what it is about her, but whenever I'm around her, I just crave her attention so bad, I end up behaving stupidly just to get her to notice me."_

_"You know what, she really respects intelligence. Why don't you study with me this term? She joins us every now and again. That might be a good opportunity for you for some hex-free talking."_

_Pouting, James nodded, his head touching his folded knees. Hermione continued running her hand over his hunched back. "There, there. It'll all work out. I promise."_

_Sirius gave a soft smile seeing the two. If only someone could guide him on how to woo his girl too…._

_…_

_And Hermione's idea worked too!_

A small smile tugged on Sirius' lips as he thought of James' wedding day.

_"You look a right mess," Sirius said to his friend. "Aren't you supposed to be losing sleep tonight onwards?" he added, wriggling his brows suggestively._

_"Help me dress up or go away," James bit back._

_"Now, where'd the fun be in that?" Remus sniggered. "We need stories to tell your children of how crazy you were acting on your wedding day."_

_"Can't Sirius just get drunk later at the reception and spin a few?" James grinned._

_"Hey! You've bagged your girl Prongs, some of us are still trying to woo ours. The only story of mine at this wedding will be of how Uncle Sirius just couldn't take his eyes off Auntie Hermione all through the day!"_

_…_

_"After all this time, I finally understand what you meant, Prongs. When you said there was no point in being with anyone else. I did not understand it then, but I do now. Once you've found the one made for you, there really isn't any need to look around after it. No one measures up. No even comes close. It's just that girl or no one. Nothing or everything. I am glad you found your everything."_

The guests at the wedding clapped hard, some even wiping their tears as the best man sat back down on his chair after his speech, his eyes firmly holding a pair of watery brown ones.

_…_

_"She's very upset today," Lily whispered softly._

_"Why?" Sirius asked, looking over his back to spot Hermione._

_"I don't know. But before leaving Harry said to not leave her alone today."_

_"I won't leave her alone," Sirius promised. Never, if she's ready to keep me, he thought in his head._

_"I know you won't," Lily squeezed his hand and popped out._

That day changed his life. In so many ways it was a new beginning. In some ways a new beginning to a beautiful life, yet in so many more, a beginning to a catastrophic end…

_…_

_It was the 18th of September, 1979, and Hermione was quite angsty. Something in her screaming for a release as she tapped her foot and fiddled with her fingers all day long. Harry would've tried and calmed her all day long, but he was away for some Order work and she was left all by herself, rattling around in the flat they shared._

_"Oh, sod it," she finally said, "Harry isn't here to stop me, so what he doesn't know won't hurt him," Hermione muttered to herself, pushing her chair away from the table as she stood to walk away._

_"Fair enough," Sirius agreed, making Hermione jump._

_"When did you get here?"_

_"You're joking right?" On seeing the blank expression on her face, he sighed. "Hermione, I've been around for hours and we've been dining at the same table for several minutes now. Now, will you please tell me what's up with you?"_

_"I have to go…" she rasped shakily, yet simply._

_"I'm gonna go on a hunch and say it's not to the can, so go grab your coat and I'll take you wherever it is you want to go."_

_Hermione's eyes turned as big as galleons, and she proceeded to blink them owlishly at Sirius._

_"Cute as you look doing that, love, don't you have some place to be?"_

_"You… you'll come with me? Not rat me out to Harry?"_

_"No," he smiled, "I'd never rat you out, love. Now go on, I'll be waiting for you by the door."_

_"Where did you say James was?" Hermione asked as the two walked towards the muggle side of the town to catch a bus to their destination. Hermione had told Sirius she wanted to go into the muggle side of London, to a small hospital and he had agreed, without asking for her reasons._

_"I didn't. But now that you're asking, he's out for a night on the muggle side of the town, with his lovely wife._

_Hermione stayed silent for most of the journey and so did Sirius since he had absolutely no clue as to why she was wound as tight as a muggle spring toy that's ready to snap._

_They reached the hospital after a bus change and she led him to a cafeteria, force feeding him coffee that he didn't really want but went along with anyway._

_Somewhere close to mid-night though, she pulled his arm and walked him towards an elevator at the far end of the corridor and led them straight to the top-most floor that housed the Operation Theatres and the Labour Rooms._

_Not really understanding what they were doing there, Sirius simply continued to provide her with his silent company and strength._

_And then, his world shattered._

_About ten minutes past midnight, a young nurse brought in a tiny infant and put it in the arms of the man they were sitting bang opposite of, making him tear up. "It's a beautiful little girl, Mr. Granger."_

_Hermione tensed up beside Sirius, her fingernails biting into his arms as she held on tightly to him, as if, if she left him she'd lose it all._

_While feeling smug about himself for being the rock in her life at a weak moment of hers, though he didn't know why, he took the opportunity offered and spread his arm around her and unthinkingly Hermione dug her head under his shoulder._

_"What are you going to name her?" the nurse asked the man who was cooing at his little baby._

_Sirius never knew how he heard those life-changing words. He was sure he was too engrossed in himself, happy to have Hermione in his arms. It had taken him far too long to get her there, and even now she wasn't going to stay back there, but that did not stop him from enjoying the feeling of having her pressed against his side._

_"My wife's in love with the name Hermione," the words spoken in a deep timbre of a voice seeped into Sirius' conscience and his eyes grew in horror as the words started making sense. "And her middle name's going to be Jean, for my mother. We just lost her last year, you see, and I think this is a good way to remember her."_

_"It sure is," the nurse smiled indulgently at the new father. "She's already got you quite wrapped up around her little finger, hasn't she?"_

_"Oh, yes, she has. She's gonna be daddy's little girl, my little Princess Hermione. And you and I are gonna run circles around your mother and drive her nuts, aren't we my darling baby," the big man continued to coo._

_And Hermione sobbed harder. Her head buried under Sirius' shoulder as she wet his shirt._

_"Papa loves you, my baby doll. Never forget that. Whatever happens… however things be… Papa will always love you. Papa will always be with you, if you only let him. Papa's going to be your best friend and he's going to shoot down every boy who so much as looks at you. You're gonna stay Papa's darling little baby girl all through my life, aren't you, my pumpkin," he kept whispering to the little baby, who had a few minutes later, promptly slept, snuggled in her fluffy pink blanket, wrapped in her father's secure arms._

_With one last chuckle, the nurse took the sleeping baby back, "We still need to give her a few vaccinations and take down her vital stats. You'll get her back soon, Mr. Granger." And she was gone with the baby in her arms, while the father kept throwing fugitive glances at the vanishing pair._

_Then seeing Sirius' eyes at him, he smiled sheepishly, "Girls! They hold their father's hearts in hands, don't they."_

_Sirius nodded, too confused with what he had witnessed to answer with his usual wit._

_"Why is she crying?" Mr. Granger asked Sirius, tilting his head to point his chin at Hermione._

_Unable to control herself, Hermione threw herself into her father's arms, uncaring of how the whole scene looked just then._

_It was just an innate human tendency, Mr. Granger later reasoned, as he rubbed the crying girl's back carefully. "It's alright. Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll all work out for the best. Have faith."_

_Hermione nodded, sniffling, barely able to control her tears to speak. But speak, she did, not wanting to lose the single opportunity she had to speak with her father. "I'm so sorry. It's just that… the way you were speaking to your daughter, reminded me so much of my own father."_

_"Oh, I understand. No reason to fret, little one."_

_Hermione just sobbed harder while her father went on to whisper soothing words in hushed whispers to her, all the while throwing fugitive glances at the young man who had accompanied the crying girl. The young man, Mr Granger saw, had gone as white as a sheet as if he'd seen a ghost. Odd pair, them._

_"You know, she's gonna love you so much. Your daughter, I mean. You're gonna make such a wonderful father and… I just… I just know that your… your daughter…" Hermione shook her head, burying it deeper into her father's chest, breathing in his familiar fragrance that had meant nothing but security and love all her life and she wistfully took a step back. "I'm sorry," she said again, wiping at her eyes and nose with her sleeve. "We… we should get going. Please do congratulate your wife, too. Despite all the times the world says your daughter's just like you, tell your wife, she'll have a special place in your daughter's heart, too. When she's away studying, she'll miss you, think of you two every day. I… I mean, Hermione… she really does love you. She misses you," she whispered softly and abruptly turned around and pulled Sirius with her out of the hospital, not once daring to look back._

_…_

_Okay, what just happened?! Was the only question in Sirius' mind as they made their way back home. He had questions… Oh, he had so many questions…..! but one look at his companion and he knew it wasn't the right time to ask them. But if not now, then when?_

_Sirius was a smart wizard. From the baby's name and the way Hermione was all over that man, he could make an educated guess about their relationship. But how?_

_He rubbed his temples in exasperation as the bus came to a stop and the pair got off the vehicle. Mutely, he followed her back to their flat. Once there, in a rare show of maturity, he still didn't press Hermione for any details, just let her sit quietly and come to her senses at her own pace while he processed all his new learnings in his mind._

_"I'm sure you must be curious." Hermione's raw voice finally cut through the deafening silence startling Sirius who was lost in his own thoughts._

_"Eh!" Sirius shrugged his broad shoulders carelessly._

_Hermione raised a brow._

_"Ok, may be just a tad."_

_Despite herself, Hermione managed to crack a faint smile, losing herself in the light grey orbs that were staring at her intently. "That was you, wasn't it? The baby?" Sirius finally asked, not particularly doubting his hypothesis but needing a confirmation from Hermione none the same._

_With great effort, she pulled herself away from his intense stare and nodded. "Yes."_

_For a few seconds there, everything was quiet until Sirius finally nodded his head. "Will you tell me why you're back here in our time instead of yours?"_

_Hermione pulled her knees close to her chest and laid her head down on them, as if cocooning herself like that would protect her from what she was about to share. "There's no why really. We weren't looking to lose ourselves back in time, it just kind of happened."_

_Wait.. We? "Oh! Of course! Harry!" Sirius smacked his head. Then his brows furrowed as a new realization dawned on him. "Fuck me sideways!" he exclaimed and Hermione just knew he'd cracked the code. "Harry, he's no Potterer. He's Potter, Prongs and Lil's son!" Hermione simply nodded. "He… He looks so much like James… but has… has Lily's eyes. Oh sweet Circe! What is happening?"_

_Then, suddenly, his eyes met Hermione's, a chill running down her spine at the arctic freeze she saw in their cold metallic glare. "What are you doing here? And this time, I want a proper answer," he said stiffly, his hard demeanour perfectly reflecting his pureblood upbringing._

_"It wasn't planned…." Hermione shook her head, unable to keep the tears away as she narrated her entire story to Sirius._

_It was hours later, after Hermione had narrated Harry's and hers past lives to Sirius that he fell on his knees in front of her and cupped her face in hands. "Oh my sweet, innocent girl," he whispered softly, taking a stray curl off her face and tucking it carefully behind her ear, "How much you've had to go through… at such a young age…" he breathed and unable to control himself anymore, he brought her face down and pushed his own upwards and kissed her._

_The kiss was soft, simply melding their lips together as he tried to speak to her without words. When he finally managed to pull himself away, he looked her in her eyes as he said, "You're not alone. I'm with you… and with Harry, of course… every step of the way…" and he simply kissed her again._

_…_

_"Do you not realize how wrong this is?"_

_"But that's the thing, Hermione. I don't think it's wrong at all," Harry gestured with his hands, showing his frustration with the topic at hand._

_"How can you even say that Harry? Honestly!"_

_"Hermione!" Harry gave up on subtlety and held on to Hermione's shoulders, almost trying to shake some sense into her. "Listen to me!" He waited until she was looking him in his eyes before he continued. "There isn't anything wrong with you having a relationship with Sirius. He isn't the man I saw as my Godfather, not that I would've been against that either. But this Sirius is our friend. It wouldn't be any different for me than you going out with Ron."_

_"Do you really think this won't be odd?"_

_"Not unless you make it."_

_"Good," Hermione heaved a sigh of relief._

_Harry looked on confusedly before "Baby, I'm home," rang through the entire flat._

_Sirius made a beeline for the open kitchen, intent on finding his girlfriend for a quick kiss or maybe something even more… when he stopped short on seeing his future godson there. "Oh, Harry! Uhm… hi."_

_"Hey…" Green eyes quickly darted between the other two occupants of the kitchen before Harry smirked. "So… you two want to tell me something?" Harry asked, his eyes shining with mischief as he leaned his hip against the kitchen counter and stirred the honey in his tea as he settled comfortably for a long story._

_"My dear godson, I'm dating your best friend and completely intend to shag her senseless right on that counter you're leaning on, as soon as you leave," Sirius replied seriously._

_"Sirius!" Hermione bellowed as Harry coughed his tea out._

_"What? You're like all my secret fantasies rolled into one. You're the nerdy girl from school the stud insanely crushed on," Hermione snorted, "You're older to me and yet just so much younger to me in another way, and I've been crazy about you for far too long to keep my hands to myself anymore," Sirius unabashedly grinned._

_"I think I'm gonna leave," Harry muttered._

_"Good choice," Sirius agreed as Harry spun on spot, his last vision being one of Sirius plastering himself over Hermione as he pinned her between the counter top and himself, his one hand pulling on her shirt's collar, the other wrapping a leg around his waist._

_…_

_"Remember, time is a loop Harry," Hermione whispered softly, her hand holding Harry's but her eyes firmly planted on her boyfriend. "We need to let Peter rat James and Lily out so we can get hold of Tom." Voldemort's name had been jinxed again so the Order members had taken to calling him Tom._

_"You want me to willing put my best friend and his family into mortal peril?" Sirius was aghast._

_"Yes! So that his family survives this time around!" Hermione answered without a blink._

_…_

_"We've located all the horcruxes, thanks to Regulus. Our friends are all spread out and will destroy them on your signal. I know you can do this, Remus, have faith in yourself."_

_"And Sirius, hold yourself in check. James and Lily know nothing about any of it, and we need to keep it that way. Just in case something untoward happens, please stay back for little Harry this time around. He had a horrid life last time, this time you can at least change that bit," Hermione said before kissing him._

Little had he known then that _that_ would be their last kiss…

_…_

_"They will always be in our hearts," James had said in his eulogy, his grief flowing through his eyes since he'd seen the lifeless bodies of Harry and Hermione right outside his home in Godric's Hollow._

_Two days later Sirius and Remus had come clean. It was then that the three friends had realised that their two parted friends had kept them all with a few glaring blind spots that only filled when the three sat down and spoke openly with each other._

_Death took what death owed. Three were to die that night._

_Three did._

_Voldemort._

_Harry._

_And his Hermione._

_…_

"Sirius Orion Black!" the howler shouted in a high-pitched irate Lily voice. "I want you to bring your sorry ass down to Godric's Hollow this weekend. Don't make me come up there to get you!" the animated red letter fumed before tearing itself off, the piece burning and the ash spreading with the light breeze.

…

"What is your problem Lily?" Sirius tried to un-lodge her firm grip from his collar.

"My problem is that you've quit living Sirius! Do you know how worried we've been about you? Remus, me and don't even get me started on James! He's been living a half-life himself without his blood brother by his side. I need you to come with me! This instant!"

"Lily…." Sirius fumbled. "I can't… I just… I just can't…"

"You can't or you won't, Sirius?"

Sirius bit his tongue.

Lily stomped her foot. "Fine. Have it your way then," she said and flooed away.

Three days later a single photo fell out of the envelope the James' owl brought the recluse animagus.

_Harry's friends will be visiting us this summer_ was written in James' chicken scratches behind the photo. The picture showed a boy much like James himself just with Lily's eyes, with a girl that literally stole Sirius' breath.

….

"Oh, Hermione, you've got love my Godfather!" Harry's loud shrieks of exclamation could be heard all the way to the kitchen.

Sirius grinned. "I like that boy already. Just my type of wingman," he winked at his friends around the table. He was excited and nervous, all at once, to see his Hermione for the first time in so many years.

"And why is that?" came a softer voice that made Sirius' breath hitch.

"He brought me the new Firebolt, Mione!" This time Harry's voice was accompanied by a lot of thumps that the adults around the kitchen table assumed to be excited jumps.

Lily rolled her eyes. _Boys and their toys!_

"Oh my God!" That was followed by some mumbling. "Why would he do that?" This time the tone was aghast. "You already get into so many Quidditch injuries! You didn't need a superfast broom to spend the other half of the year in the Hospital too."

"My point precisely," Lily glared at Sirius.

"Oh, lighten up!" Harry's voice came out loudly teasing. "He said he was making up for all the missed birthdays and Christmases. Next year, he said, he is gonna get me naughty magazines. Play-wizard or something."

"Don't you dare!" This time Lily glared real hard at the grey eyed man sitting beside her husband.

"Hey! You wanted me here, being a part of his life. Who's gonna teach him all that if not me, huh? This," Sirius said pointing at his best mate, "piece of 'I'll only ever be with Lily' here is useless in that department. Someone needs to guide that boy."

"Rightly so, but I hardly think brooms and… and naughty magazines," the rose tint on the creamy cheeks increased, "is the right way to go about it."

Sirius pulled in a long, calming breath on seeing the heartachingly familiar bush hair and tawny eyes before his eyes swept over the dainty figure of the love of life.

_Fourteen_, he remembered James mentioning. She was fourteen years old now.

He had spent twelve years thinking he'd never see their fiery passion in those particular amber depths again.

_And yet, here she was._

_Unrepentantly furious on him._

He had waited for twelve long years. He could wait for three short more.

As it turned out, he was getting really good at bidding his time…..


	4. Chapter 4

**And That's Why They Warn Against Playing With Time**

It seemed like just yesterday that Harry and Hermione had dropped into their lives. A small shy smile here, a clashing with a twinkling set of eyes there and James just knew his world had turned in on itself.

For the love of all that was holy, he could not remember why he had been so obsessed with Evans for so long! For crying out loud, even her eyes were the colour of the Killing Curse! He remembered, some time back, he'd even used that in some cheesy pick-up line he'd decided to throw her way.

_'Hey Evans,' James called out loud in the corridor just outside the Great Hall. It was just before dinner, so he had quite a bit of crowd gathering to see his antics._

_'Your eyes are like a thorough Avada, one look and I'm done for,' he'd grinned._

_'If only,' Lily had pattered back, 'they worked just as well,' and she was gone._

Just a few months back, he was convinced that Lily was the love of his life, he would marry her someday, she would bear the new generation of Potters and they'd both live happily ever after with their largeish brood. _Eh_, maybe have a few spare floors to their house where Sirius could bunk, because let's face it, that boy was never going to settle down! Some spare place for Moony to come to, whenever his parents tossed him out. And a small place for Peter to spunk at when his life otherwise turned drab.

Enter Miss Hermione Granger!

In the beginning, he'd still entertained the idea of Lily and himself, even going so far as to convince his heart that Hermione was nothing but novelty. In a few more weeks, his intrigue with her would wear off. It always did with the other girls. Not that many knew, but James had tried to give up on Evans for some time now, but she'd been like a drug to his senses. No matter where he was, with whom he was, he'd never found anyone to be captivating enough.

He'd been out and about, after all, Sirius Black was his best friend, and there were only so many times that guy even understood the meaning of 'no', or even 'not now'. Sirius dragged him about on double dates or set him up on blind ones, and James had been to them all. His mind had been on Lily fleetingly, but he'd been charming enough to the girl in front of him, earning himself some pretty good snog fests and a few times a lot more in the process.

But that had all changed with Hermione's entry. Every single girl had faded out of his sight. He'd stopped checking their racks with Remus or even assigning them F.B.A. indexes with Sirius. There wasn't any point, none compared to Hermione. _Simple_.

He'd seen her study like crazy during their NEWTs, her hair actually rising and spreading in every direction around her face in their thirst for knowledge.

He'd seen her helping Harry pull some pretty amazing pranks through the year.

He'd seen her help a few random juniors, irrespective of their house affiliations, nurturing them like a mother hen.

He wasn't sure when, but over time, his focus had moved from Lily to Hermione. It had been a gradual shift but he had started paying attention to her little ticks, attuning himself so thoroughly to her that he could pinpoint the exact nature of her thoughts if he was only given ten seconds to watch her from afar.

He'd seen her broken when the news of muggle deaths under the Dark Lord's instructions had been reported in three long pages in the Daily Prophet. He didn't know what it was, but she stilled on reading some of their names. Probably, Robert and Helen Granger's, he'd reasoned later. Must be some relatives of hers, given their names. He hadn't seen her for days after that incident. Harry had been frantic until three days later when he'd found her, he hadn't said where though.

She'd been a shell of her earlier self, her posture broken, eyes lack-lustre and James had known, with just a glance at her then, that he never wanted to see her that way ever again. He'd do anything to keep her happy, make her smile, have her safe, preferably by his side.

He'd been in the middle of chewing the chicken leg when that thought had hit and he'd choked on the food. His worried, and mostly over-zealous friends had knocked him hard repeatedly over his back and finally, he'd been able to wipe the water off his eyes, landing them on anxious warm brown ones.

_Like a cup of hot cocoa on a winter's eve._

_Like warm dark chocolate in the middle of a snowstorm._

_Sinful and appetising._

_Warm and comforting._

James licked his lips when that image flashed through his mind.

Hermione, for just a few seconds, had forgotten her woes to worry about him, her eyes concerned, her teeth sunken into her full pink bottom lip.

He'd known then, there was no going back.

_She was it._

Hermione Granger was no Lily Evans.

_She was just so much more._

And she was his, whether she knew it or not.

He'd make her see that, though.

It wasn't like he was low on patience anyway.

"I'm gonna marry her someday," James said, his voice full of hope and love.

"You've said that 'bout a hundred times already, Prongs," Sirius said, after he'd swallowed his mouthful of dinner roll, rolling his eyes in the process.

"But this time, it's true. I'm gonna marry Hermione someday. She'll be my wife. You'll see."

"Hermione? Granger! Bloody hell, mate! Give a bloke some warning!" Sirius had spat out the next bite of his, in his utter shock at the new proclamation.

**!**

On hindsight, maybe it was Harry's soft encouragement that made him go after Lily despite knowing what he truly felt in his heart.

Maybe he was just addicted to the pain of her stinging hexes.

Maybe he was a glutton for self-punishment.

_Or_ _maybe_, it was for the soft care he was offered by the girl of his dreams after he'd comeback with a twisted knee or a burned eyebrow. Those few minutes, Hermione would glare every marauder down, mutter obscenities at Lily in specific and teenagers in general, but then she would softly touch and prod his recently abused areas, whispering to him in tones so hushed that he had to get far closer to her than he otherwise could to hear her asking about him.

_That _nowadays was his motivation for getting on Lily's nerves.

Hermione's TLC, Harry called it. _Tender, loving care._ And James just wanted to bask in it all his life.

Until now, that is. _Merlin, but his witch was frustratingly close _and _blissfully unaware_.

He'd just come back after a fresh round of goes with Lily, only to find the Common Room uncharacteristically deserted. Not a soul around. Grumbling about the lack of the very much expected warm reception from his witch, James sat on the couch by the fireplace, gingerly rubbing the back of his head where Lily had gotten him good. _Damn! That's blood!_ James winced at the sight of his three bloodied fingers that he was massaging his head with. _Where the hell was Hermione?!_

As if summoned by his thoughts, Hermione stepped out of the portrait hole, halting in her steps just as he had, when she saw no one around. "Where is everyone?" he heard her mutter. He was pretty sure she hadn't seen him yet so he took the opportunity to get a good look at her instead. "Was there something special tonight I forgot about?"

"You and I, both, love," James gave her his lopsided grin, one he hadn't realized he had started flashing solely to her.

Hermione startled first, reaching for her wand before her eyes found James'. "Where are the others?" she enquired as she made her way towards him, bag on her shoulder, a mini library in her hands.

"Not a clue," James replied, offering his hands for her to deposit her heavy load in.

"Thank you," Hermione smiled and was just about to transfer her precious tomes into his waiting hands when she froze. "James, is that… is that blood?" she croaked instead.

"Eh, yeah, I think my head's bleeding," James began, his hands automatically finding the wound they had just been massaging. Hermione shrieked frightfully as she dropped her books on the floor, something he could swear she'd never do in her usual state of mind, _thereby showing how much the sight of my blood affected her,_ his devilish mind grinned in ecstasy.

But the Founders had something much more sinister in store for him than mere satisfaction at having his love interest worry about his wellbeing.

Hermione's books fell off her hands, and she scrambled her way towards James, her bag dropping in the process. She pushed at his shoulders, making him fall on the couch hard enough to actually bounce on its soft leathery surface, as she mounted the couch, her calves stretching beside his thighs, her pelvis mere inches from his chest and breasts almost in his face as she twisted slightly and craned her neck to check his head wound.

He experienced a small second of euphoria so large that his blood rushed down to areas of his body quite difficult to control by randy teenagers and he immediately realized he was in hell.

In her zest to see the wound for herself, Hermione moved in closer, inadvertently pressing her left breast to his left eye as she gained more height to check the back of his head for damage. "There," she said as her fingers found just the right spot, the throbbing crux of his current problem and she lightly touched the sensitive skin around it.

"Does it hurt real bad?" Hermione asked, her voice husky with concern.

_You have no fucking idea how much!_ James wanted to rasp out, but grunted instead, for he realized he had no mastery over his own vocals just then.

"Accio wand," Hermione said, her hand stretched out towards the general direction of her fallen bag and not a second later, her Vinewood wand came whistling to her.

Thinking she might be moving away from him when she shuffled, James' hands instinctively went to her cup her waist, and now that they were there, they had no mind of moving away.

The two teenagers worked peacefully in silence for the next few minutes. Hermione busy tending to his head wound, while he tried getting his other head to behave, lest he scare his carer off.

He'd always known Hermione preferred woodsy fragrances over the typical fruity and floral ones that all girls their age seemed to be drawn towards. Thanks to his animagus, he could catch her scent even in a crowded corridor. _She smelled like Christmas at the Manor_ he thought with fondness every single time. _Pinecones, fern, snow and a small crackling fire. Like a White Christmas. Magical and divine._

_She smelt like a warm, loving home._

James had just taken in a long whiff, his hands tightening marginally around his witch when the portrait door, much to his annoyance, opened again.

"Whatcha doing?" he heard Sirius' sing-song voice and unthinkingly fisted his hands, crumpling Hermione's uniform in the process.

"He was hurt and bleeding, sitting all by himself in the common room," Hermione raised her eyes accusingly at the intruder. "Where were you Sirius? Why were you two not together?"

"I was in detention," Sirius' smile immediately fell off his face as he rushed forward to check on his best mate. His silver eyes had turned misty with worry, and James berated himself for wishing his friend to hell twice over when he was just about have a special moment with the love of his life. He had been waiting for Hermione to figure out how locked their position was before making a move and now he never could! _Humph!_

"Please tell me you fell off the stairs or something and it was _not_ Lily who did this to you," he heard Hermione asking him, after she was done bickering with Sirius. The fact that she was now perched on his lap while she spoke to him did nothing to win his undivided attention.

"Has to be her," Sirius replied instead, smirking while looking at the comprising way James was sat with Hermione.

Hermione snorted. "I know what you mean. He only comes to me when she hurts him," she said. "Your manly ego probably doesn't let you speak to Madam Pomphrey about it, does it?" Hermione turned towards James again.

"Uhm…" _What?_ Was this really how their first time so close to each other was gonna be? Him wanton with his arms full of Hermione, she chewing his ear off for something he did and Sirius laughing in the background? _What was life coming to?_

"I swear to God," Hermione said, showing her muggle heritage quite unrepentantly, "That girl just goes too far. I'm gonna give her a piece of my mind next time I see her," Hermione grumbled, her furious magical dressing of his wound making James flinch every now and again.

"Your wish has been granted, kitten. Here she comes," Sirius pointed at the entrance again where Lily sauntered in, in conversation with her friend, a few other Gryffindors walking in just behind them.

"Stop calling me that!" Hermione hissed and was off her perch on James without a second thought as she hurried to catch up with Lily.

"Lily, a word please," Hermione spoke aloud, halting the red head before she took the first step up the stairs to the girls dormitory.

Motioning for her friends to go on, Lily turned towards Hermione. She saw James and Sirius in the background and immediately her eyes turned guarded and her back stiffened.

"Yes," she responded stiltedly, furthering Hermione's ire.

"I want you to stop hexing and cursing James," Hermione cut right through the chase.

Not one to take instructions by her peers too easily, "Because…." Lily prompted, adopting a slightly bored tone.

"Because," Hermione repeated mockingly, "he is a good guy, one of the best around, in fact. And all he is asking you for is a date, nothing more. And while I can try to understand your need to maintain propriety, I still think hexing him so hard that he bleeds is taking it a little too far."

Lily controlled the guilty flush that raised to her cheeks when Hermione mentioned James bleeding because of her, but quickly brought out her own anger at being spoken to in such a manner in the House Common Room no less.

"Well, he can shove his _goodness_ where the sun doesn't shine. And if he hates the hexes so much, he can just stop approaching me in unbecoming manners."

"He is only trying to express his feelings…"

"Just like I am only trying to express mine. And if he continues his ways then I will just have to continue mine, maybe even knock it up a notch."

Hermione's hair sparked. Lily's eyes widened.

"Too far, Evans." Hermione took a small step towards the red head, intruding her private space. "You just took that a little _too_ far. While you are at liberty to express your feelings to him _verbally_, I draw a line at standing aside while my friends hurt. Hex him or curse him once more, and you will have me to deal with. I don't take kindly to witches that trouble my friends and the marauders are under _my_ _protection_. You even look wrongly at anyone of them, and you will know why people cower under my wrath."

"This is my last warning, Evans," and with that said, Hermione turned to leave.

"Are you threatening me?" Lily asked, her own magic swirling around her, her eyes sparkling in her fury.

In a show of power, Hermione pointedly tucked her wand into her skirt pocket, then flicked her fingers, whispering '_Avis'_. A small flock of five tiny canaries shot out of her fingers flying in a circle in just the way she twirled her fingers.

"No. I am promising you, Evans," Hermione said in a lethal tone. '_Oppugno'_ she whispered and in one smooth wave had the canaries attacking the banister right behind Lily. "Next time, it won't be the bannister."

Turning around completely, showing her back to the girl she had just declared war against, Hermione flicked her hair and walked out the portrait door, her bag and books laying forgotten on the floor beside James.

"Well, _fuck!_" _That did not just happen._

"Wow! Is that girl hot or what?" Sirius exclaimed and received a loud smack on his head.

**!**

For a little bit there, James had wondered if Hermione fancied someone else instead. Sirius, to be precise.

While he knew Sirius would never look twice at a girl James, Remus, Peter or now even Harry, were interested in, James did wonder if maybe Hermione liked him.

He remembered the time she had approached the marauders who were gathered in a tight circle in front of the Divination class. Sirius had asked a Slytherin out to Hogsmeade, Rita or Leta or something and Harry had unwittingly muttered that Hermione was not going to like it. All through breakfast and then through Charms, James had wondered why Harry had said that and every reason that came to his mind was worse than his previous speculation.

And then, there she was. The girl who hated Divination with every single fibre of her being, walking up to the class and on spotting them, she immediately made her way towards them, standing right in front of Sirius.

"Sirius, are we friends?" she asked, startling every guy around. Well, all except maybe Harry whose lips quirked up at his friend's antics.

"Yeeees…" Sirius responded cautiously, "I'd like to think so."

"Good. Then from one friend to another, I don't want you going out with Rita Skeeter. Stand her up. No questions asked." Hermione dictated looking right into Sirius' grey eyes.

"What?" Sirius reeled his head back in shock at her request. "Why?"

"Because." They all waited for her to elaborate or even add something a little more but apparently that was all she had to say. _Because._

"Because?" Sirius furrowed his brows. "That's all your gonna give me. Because? Hermione, she is one fit bird and if you don't want me seeing her, I'm gonna need a little more than '_because'_.

"Oh, please," Hermione rolled her eyes. "You don't _see _girls, Sirius. All I'm saying is I don't want you in a kilometre radius of her. That's it. Is it really so unreasonable of me to ask it out of a dear friend?"

"You're laying it on thick, Mione," Harry grinned.

"Sirius Orion Black. I totally, absolutely, truly, madly, deeply loathe that… _that bug_. And if you go out with her despite knowing this, I… I will never talk to you again." Hermione folded her arms in front of her chest.

Sirius considered the witch in front of him for a few long seconds, making James' ire grow. _She sure never reacted that way when he asked Lily out over and over again!_ "Okay." He heard his best friend reply.

"O..kay?" Hermione owlishly blinked at Sirius.

Sirius smirked. "I see you had some real high hopes of getting things done your way." He shook his head. "But as it happens, I do consider you a good friend and if it means that much to you, I'll cancel my date with Rita."

"I think you'll find she asked you to stand her up," Remus said, eyeing the two carefully, looking for something James himself was trying to find.

"Meh," Sirius shrugged his broad shoulders carelessly. "Potato.. Pah-tah-toh…"

"Thank you, Sirius," Hermione grinned.

"It's gonna cost you, though," Sirius said looking at the witch. "You owe me. Whenever I need, whatever I say, no questions asked."

"Sure," Hermione hugged him, nodded at them all and left with a bounce in her step.

James was sure he was gonna throttle Sirius when they had a moment to themselves. This was going to be Sirius' last Divination class and for a second he wondered if their new teacher, Sybil, would actually _see_ his death coming so swiftly.

But then, Sirius caught his eye and moved in closer to whisper in his ears. "Your witch owes me now. Let me know if you ever want this favour called."

"You stupid boy!" James pulled his best friend in and patted him on his shoulder before letting go just as quickly so no one would catch them in the act.

_What would he ever do without Sirius Black?_

"You'd be a sorry mess, is what," Sirius deadpanned and then winked cheekily before making his way to the class.

_Idiot._

**!**

James and Sirius, the forever partners in crime, were partnered with each other for the Auror Training Program as well as the Order's missions.

Just like Harry and Hermione were.

But those two, unlike the marauding duo were a force to reckon.

They were just perfect all by themselves and yet unstoppable when paired together.

But James had seen the growing worry around their eyes. They followed his every move and then Lily's as if wondering about something very minutely.

Something was bothering them. That much he knew for sure.

And then, in a friendly gathering at Sirius' and his bachelor pad, Alice announced that Frank and her were trying for a baby.

He very clearly remembered that day.

In sync, Harry and Hermione eyed him, quite pointedly at that and waited. For what, James had no clue.

It was three days later that he was cornered by the green eyed boy.

"When are you going to propose to Lily?" Harry had come right out and asked.

"What? Whosoever gave you that idea?"

Harry gaped at him like a fish out of water. "Are you saying that you aren't interested in Lily anymore?"

"I haven't been quite that interested in her for a very long time, Harry."

"But… You guys are perfect together!" Harry roared. "Whatsoever made you think otherwise?"

_Your best friend_ did not really sound like a good answer just then so James stuck with a rather worn out one. "We grew up, Harry. I'm sorry if I'm not interested in a girl I fancied as a eleven year old. But, what can I say, times change," James threw in a careless shrug to emphasize his point.

Harry, on the other hand, looked slapped across the face. "Times…. Times change…" he said, his eyes taking on a faraway look, as he slapped his hands on his mouth, shaking his head in a firm 'no' and walking backwards towards the wall. "This can't… No! I can't… Shit! What have I done!" Harry exclaimed, hit the wall and his knees buckled all at once as he fell to the floor, looking broken.

"Harry…" James did not know _what_ to do to mend the youngster who was definitely having some sort of breakdown or panic attack at his home.

Fortunately, he knew who could help.

"Hermione! I've broken Harry. Come home. Quickly!" James muttered hastily to his stag patronus and watched as he disappeared into a white mist after one graceful leap and then he made his way to Harry.

"Harry! What's wrong? You're scaring me."

"What's wrong? What's wrong! You are the one to ask me what's wrong?! My parents won't be getting together is what is wrong! My one bad decision has gotten Hermione's parents killed is what's wrong! Oh my God!" Harry exclaimed in a single breath again. "I'm not even gonna be born! Hermione's not gonna be born!"

And then, there was something that made James' blood run cold. "Oh who's gonna kill that madman now? Whose parents have thrice defied the Dark Lord! Will this war never end?"

Too shocked to respond, James only stared unblinkingly at one of his closest friends.

"James? Harry?" Cut in a soft yet urgent voice from his floo.

"In here, Hermione," James managed to say just as Hermione came across the doorway to the small library James' home housed.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her concerned eyes glued to Harry as she walked, shrugged out of her overcoat and trailed eyes on Harry all at once.

Had it not been for his preoccupation, her multitasking skills would have definitely given James something more to admire about her, but as it was….

"Hermione!" Harry cried on seeing her friendly face. "Oh Hermione! You were right! Just like you always are! We shouldn't have done this, any of this. Messing with time is wrong. I get that. Change it. Take me back. My stupidity has changed so much." Harry continued in a single rant.

Unable to understand, Hermione turned a questioning gaze at James.

"I don't know," James said immediately. "One minute we were talking and the next he was," and James gave a meaningful swipe towards the youngster.

"What were you talking about?"

"About how my feelings have changed for Lily. But I'm not sure why he's so upset about it. Last I heard, she was really gelling well with the Order spy in You-Know-Who's inner circle. She was telling Marlene how they were planning an outing in the muggle world somewhere."

And just like Harry, Hermione's hands slapped her mouth, to cover the large 'o' it had fallen into. Turning to Harry, Hermione immediately hugged him tight, making James nervous and fidgety, for not once until then had he ever felt like a third wheel between the two friends.

"Oh, Harry! Harry, I am so sorry…" Hermione was crying, her tears of her grief for her friend falling freely down her cheeks.

"I screwed it, Hermione. There was a reason why Dumbledore never let me make decisions. This is what I do….."

"No," Hermione was interjecting quite vehemently, shaking her head in emphasis as she rubbed Harry's back to soothe him.

"Your decision has saved so many lives, Harry. Innocent lives lost to the wars."

_Wars? As in plural? What were the two talking about?_ Containing his curiosity, James quietly walked out, for once thinking of giving the friends some time to discuss whatever the issue was. He'd then round up his gang and get to the bottom of it all later. _For now though, Harry was the priority._

Sirius had come home on James' summons and the two had a decent-ish meal ready by the time to two friends walked out of the library.

Hermione was clutching Harry's hand real hard while Harry was still snuffling. Both their eyes remained bloodshot.

"You two," Sirius called out to them, "sit."

"Tea?" James asked, glaring at Sirius for his abrupt hostility.

"That'll be spiffing, Prongsie. You do that while I get the bottom of it all. I have sealed all the exists with Black family wards so there's no escape until I let you. Now, spill."

Despite themselves, the two snorted. "It's a good thing we'd decided to speak to you and James anyways, because we both know how to crack every Black ward," Hermione replied tongue-in-cheek.

_What! The old families protected their ancestral wards more than their gold and that was saying something…_

"How?" Sirius sputtered.

A meaningful glance passed between the two and the two took the seats Sirius had motioned them to earlier, and then in sync, they twin spoke. "You taught us, Sirius."

Sirius's body moved backwards as the force of the words hit him hard. "What? I… What? Heck, no!"

"Hell, yeah. You taught it to us and a friend of ours when we were preparing for a war saying no one but a Black heir had rights to these wards and so, not even Bellatrix or even Narcissa would be able to dismantle them. The last of its knowledge laid with Regulus and then.. and then after his death, with you…"

And then the time travellers waited silently for the ball to drop…..

**!**

"Trust you, Prongs, to fall for the most unattainable girls ever. First Lily, who hated the mere sight and scent of you, and now Hermione! A time traveling witch, who happens to be your future son's best friend, who is also time-traveling with her. A son you bore with Lily! The girl who is dating an anonymous somebody while you are crushing on a girl who isn't even born yet, and will never be because her parents are dead."

"Thank you for that, Padfoot," James glared at his best mate. "But… you've forgotten what my witch said. Harry is the boy from the prophecy! His parents did defy the lunatic thrice. And now, we only need to keep the Longbottoms safe for _he_ will surely come for them. He has no other choice."

"And then we ambush!"

"And then we ambush!"

The two marauders clinched their tumblers of firewhisky, the expensive crystal making a light tinkling sound at the contact.

"I can't believe Peter would have ratted us out. Or did rat us out like that…" Sirius' tone still held disbelief. He just couldn't put the timid Peter and such malice in one single thought.

"But like Hermione said, with them being here, and actively changing the future, that might actually not hold true this time around. So we stay guarded but act the same around him, just in case." James laced his words with a very pointed and telling look.

"Yeah.. Yeah.." Sirius waved off his blood brother's concerns with the his hand that was occupied with the crystal tumbler. "I understand the gravity of this situation, _James_, I won't go screwing it up. I promise."

"Make sure you don't, _Siri_," James said, his voice going a tad softer but eyes still shining clear. "We have too much riding on this…"

"I know…" Sirius finally whispered, just softly enough for his fellow animagus to hear. "I know," he repeated, his eyes glazed as they gazed absently at his glass.

"Can't believe Reggie did that…" he said after a lengthy pause.

"And you need to convince him to do it again. We'll keep him safe this time." James patted Sirius' thigh.

"Yeah…"

"Yeah, we will…"

And all night long, the duo spoke haltingly, wrapping their minds around every shred of information their friends had shared with them.

**!**

Much like that night, the prankster duo found themselves in their house again the day they ambushed Voldemort.

Severus Snape, the spy from the Death Eater ranks, had given the Order the exact dates and plans of Lord Voldemort's attack on the Longbottoms. Unsure of Peter's loyalty, he had been given a menial task elsewhere that night where he was kept under watch by the very careful Marlene, just in case he needed an arrest.

Regulus and Kreacher had gone on to destroy the locket, well-prepared this time and Regulus had instructed Kreacher to apparate them both to a safe house as soon as they had the locket in their hands.

Mary had had a long chat with Narcissa carefully mentioning Draco, her one year old child's well-being every now and again. And they had obtained the dairy just that morning. Remus was given the task to deal with it at the correct time.

Dumbledore had gone for the ring and Sirius for the cup. James was on diadem duty in Hogwarts.

Harry, Hermione, Kingsley, the Prewett Twins and the Longbottom Matriarch herself had guarded the door to the Longbottom Keep, while Frank, Alice and the little baby Neville were safely tucked away at un-disclosed location. A chain of networks was setup to keep them protected and informed.

"We can do this!" had been the almighty mantra as every fighter stood poised, wand at the ready, waiting for the final battle. And it had begun with Harry's cry.

"We'll finish this tonight!"

Fireworks littered the night sky as every wizard celebrated a freedom they hadn't dared hoped for and yet the marauders stayed home, too worked up to enter the party scene.

"So…" Sirius asked, turning towards James. "You've shown some incredible patience there. Not a pass at Hermione for so long. Given up already because of the twisted relations?"

"Huh," James snorted. "Not a chance. I'm giving the two a few days to recuperate. Then I'll have it all out with Harry and then, the wooing Hermione plan begins…"

"Wooing Hermione?" came Harry's confused voice from the fireplace. The two marauders turned as one, all guilty faced to look at their friend, only to notice with a sinking heart that he wasn't alone. Remus stood beside Hermione, smirking. Peter was behind her, looking as confused and watery eyed as ever. Harry was the personification of confusion while Hermione was turning the envy of every beetroot in the world, staring intently at a spot on the rug.

_Spilled coffee, probably,_ she thought and had to restrain herself from raising her wand to scrougify the old rug.

"You like Hermione?" Harry pressed, never one to wait for tact, looking solely at his father.

"I love her," James replied, though his eyes were glued to Hermione who was turning pinker by the second, her head lowered as she tried to hide behind the curtain of her hair. "I've loved her for a very long time and I would really like the chance to build a future with her. That is, if she'll have me." James was nothing but sincere as he looked on at the girl, a young lady now, whom he had fallen for all those years back.

Mutely, Harry stared at James, his world frozen as he contemplated the idea of his father marrying his best friend. "And there's no way you'd rethink on that? Not even for me?"

"Harry," James tore his eyes away from Hermione with effort before looking at his son who'll never be. "Harry, you'll always be my boy in a way, but you have to agree that we've never really looked at each other that way. I've only ever seen you as one of my best friends, both of you in fact. And while you'll stay my child, I can't see myself fathering you around. Well, not unless it suits me," James winked at Harry to lighten his mood.

In return, Harry flashed him a small, tentative smile. "That's good then. I'd hate for you to ditch my best friend for some weird sentimental stuff I cook up. Now, where's the good stuff? We need to celebrate!" Harry grinned, rubbing his hands together as he moved towards Sirius.

"So, you're okay with it?" James asked, just to confirm.

"I've never had a say in Hermione's love life. She made that clear in our fourth year! So, if you can keep her happy," Harry shrugged, "But, you make her cry even once, and you'll have me to deal with, the boy who's gone against Voldemort since he was eleven!"

James grinned his reply as his friends made their way towards the bar, to afford Hermione and him some privacy.

He quietly walked up to her, seeing as she stood rooted to the spot. "Just one chance, Hermione. That's all I'm asking. Give me one date, and if I'm unable to spark something in you, we'll go back to being friends. But give me at least one chance to show you how I feel… _Please_…"

Hermione slowly brought her eyes up, giving James Potter a thorough once over, something she had never done earlier, before her eyes landed on his face.

He looked so achingly familiar. The same shape of face, the same messed up hair, and yet… and yet he felt so different. She couldn't, in all honesty, claim the havoc happening in her stomach was love; but she knew she could get there. If only she let herself give the wizard in front of her a fair chance.

_But it could be so weird! And what if it doesn't work out?_

And then her eyes were arrested by mesmerizing brown ones.

_Like the dark chocolates that she was denied while growing up._

_Sinful and tempting._

_Calling out to her._

_Making her want to throw caution out the window and just indulge herself in their deep, alluring depths._

James took a step closer, and then one more, standing toe-to-toe with her, making her crane her neck back to keep gazing into his hypnotic eyes.

"One chance," he whispered, his hot breath fanning her cheeks.

"Okay," Hermione finally croaked, her throat feeling closed and dry.

"What?" James was wide-eyed. "Did you… did you just say okay? To going out with me?"

Seeing the stud of Hogwarts look so comical in his disbelief, Hermione laughed. "Yes, James, I did say okay. Let me know when and where and I…."

"Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" James grinned from ear to ear, as he dusted Hermione's face with loud kisses.

"Okay I draw the line at having to watch the public display," Harry said from the bar, his stool twisted at an angle to keep his face away as his eyes very studiously studied the bar cabinet behind Sirius.

"Don't get cheeky, young man, or I'll have to take away your broom for a few days," James threatened, but stopped kissing Hermione anyway.

Sirius gave out his barking laughter. "Well, Harry, you did say she was like a mother to you."

"OH! This is just going to get weirder," Harry groaned and grasped his head while Remus patted his back.

"What did I miss?" Peter finally piped up, realizing there was too much happening around him that he had no clue about.

"Oh, don't bother about it," Remus flashed him a kind smile. "It was just a stupid game…"

"That I'm glad you played," James said, his hands hugging Hermione's shoulders as he tugged her along towards the bar.

"Hear! Hear!" Sirius, Remus and Harry toasted just as a brilliant multi-coloured firecracker exploded behind them.


End file.
